He
said to them, “When I sent you out without purse, and wallet, and shoes, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” Then he said to them, “But now, whoever has a purse, let him take it, and likewise a wallet. Whoever has none, let him sell his cloak, and buy a sword. For I tell you that this which is written must still be fulfilled in me: ‘He was counted with transgressors.’ For that which concerns me has an end.” They said, “Lord, behold, here are two swords.” He said to them, “That is enough.”
Luke 22:35-38
Luke 22 [34.] He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will by no means crow today until you deny that you know me three times.”
Luke 22 [35.] He said to them, “When I sent you out without purse, and wallet, and shoes, did you lack anything?”
They said, “Nothing.”
Luke 22 [36.] Then he said to them, “But now, whoever has a purse, let him take it, and likewise a wallet. Whoever has none, let him sell his cloak, and buy a sword. For I tell you that this which is written must still be fulfilled in me: ‘He was counted with transgressors.’ For that which concerns me has an end.”
Luke 22 [38.] They said, “Lord, behold, here are two swords.”
He said to them, “That is enough.”
Luke 22 [39.] He came out, and went, as his custom was, to the Mount of Olives. His disciples also followed him. When he was at the place, he said to them, “Pray that you don’t enter into temptation.”
Meaning:
After warning Peter that he would deny him (Luke 22:33-34), Jesus speaks to all the apostles about the change that was about to come. These words, found only in Luke, are among the most puzzling in the Gospels. Jesus seems to tell his followers to buy swords, yet a few hours later he rebuked the use of a sword and healed the man it wounded (Luke 22:49-51). The key is the contrast between two seasons of their mission.
- “When I sent you out without purse, and wallet, and shoes, did you lack anything?”
Jesus recalls earlier missions. He had sent the twelve with the instruction, “Take nothing for your journey—neither staffs, nor wallet, nor bread, nor money” (Luke 9:3), and the seventy with the command, “Carry no purse, nor wallet, nor sandals” (Luke 10:4). In those days they had been welcomed into homes and provided for by those who received their message. Their answer, “Nothing,” is a testimony to God’s faithful care. Paul could later write, “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
- “But now, whoever has a purse, let him take it”
“But now” marks a turning point. The friendly reception of the early mission was ending. Their Master was about to be treated as a criminal, and his followers would face hostility instead of hospitality. They would need to plan, carry provisions and expect hardship. Jesus’ words are a vivid way of saying that times of danger were coming.
- “let him sell his cloak, and buy a sword”
A cloak was a basic necessity, used as a blanket at night, so selling it for a sword is a dramatic picture of how serious the coming crisis would be. Most interpreters understand the saying figuratively: Jesus is warning of conflict, not ordering an armed uprising. He never used force to spread his Kingdom. Before Pilate he said, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight” (John 18:36). When Peter struck with a sword in the garden, Jesus said, “Put your sword back into its place, for all those who take the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). The weapons of his followers are spiritual: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).
- “He was counted with transgressors”
This is the reason for the change. Jesus quotes Isaiah 53, the song of the suffering Servant who “poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). He would be arrested like a robber and crucified between two criminals (Mark 15:27-28). “For that which concerns me has an end” means that his work was reaching its goal. The Scriptures about him were about to be fulfilled, and his disciples would share in the rejection of the one they followed.
- “Lord, behold, here are two swords.” “That is enough.”
The disciples took Jesus literally and produced two swords, probably short blades of the kind travellers carried for protection. Jesus’ reply, “That is enough,” is best understood not as approval of two swords as sufficient armament, which would be useless against a band of soldiers, but as a way of ending the conversation. They had misunderstood, and there was no more time to explain.
The Significance of Luke 22:35-38
- Remember God’s provision
Looking back on God’s past faithfulness prepares us for future trials. The disciples “lacked nothing” before, and the same Lord would be with them in harder days.
- Prepared for opposition
Following Christ is not always met with welcome. Believers should be ready for misunderstanding and hostility, while relying on spiritual weapons. Paul says that “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).
- Christ counted with sinners
Jesus was numbered with transgressors so that transgressors could be counted righteous. His willingness to be treated as a criminal is the heart of the gospel.
Cross-References:
Isaiah 53:12: "was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many," The prophecy Jesus quoted.
Matthew 26:52: "Put your sword back into its place," Jesus forbids the use of the sword.
Luke 9:3: "Take nothing for your journey" The earlier mission.
Ephesians 6:17: "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;" The believer’s true sword.
Conclusion: Jesus reminded the apostles that when he had sent them out with nothing, they had lacked nothing. But now a season of hostility was beginning: he was about to be counted with transgressors, as Isaiah foretold, and his followers would share his rejection. His vivid words about purse and sword were a warning to be ready, not a call to arms, for his people overcome by faith and the word of God.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible